The Shifting Legitimacies of Price Measurements: Official Statistics and the Quantification of Pwofitasyon in the 2009 Social Struggle in Guadeloupe

In 2009, Guadeloupe experienced a historic 44 day-long strike against the high cost of living. The union-led collective (LKP) leading the strike used calculations and figures as a weapon to prove that players holding dominant market positions captured undue profits (“pwofitasyon”). Also, official price indexes were subjected to radical political criticism by the LKP actors. Yet, by using averages, these calculations could not account for the existence of individual abusive prices. The “statactivistic” momentum resulted in a shift of the legitimate price measurement methods. Calculation was, however, also the collective’s Achilles heel. LKP members’ use of numbers established only a temporary favourable balance of power in the negotiations. It was not enough for them to compete with the state’s calculative skills on an equal basis.

The Distribution Mechanism of Subsidized Liquid Petroleum Gas in Sajad District West Kalimantan: An Investigation Based on Islamic Law

This research is based on an initial survey of the distribution of subsidized 3-kg LPG which I think is not right on target because it is full of fraudulent practices. In distributing LPG, it was found that many rich people still buy subsidized 3-kg LPG. In fact, according to government regulations, 3-kg LPG is intended for the poor economic community or small business owners. The problem that is the focus of this research is how the mechanism for distributing 3-kg LPG is in Sajad Regency, and how is the law on selling 3-kg LPG for the rich when viewed according to Islamic law. To answer these questions, data collection techniques were carried out through observation and interviews. The results of this study are 1) the distribution of 3-kg LPG is not in accordance with government regulations, namely the distribution of LPG prioritizes people who can afford it above the official price, while the poor can only get a small part of the official government price/national subsidy price, so there are more stock for sale at more expensive than the official price. 2) If viewed from Islamic law, the distribution of 3-kg LPG is not in accordance with the sharia business method because it is carried out by ignoring government regulations, namely traders are considered to have broken an agreement with the government regarding price determination. In addition, this buying and selling practice also lacks supervision, no sanctions and no law enforcement to maintain subsidy prices so that many sellers dare to violate contracts with the government and violate government regulations.

What Drives the Difference between Online and Official Price Indexes?

This paper examines the associations between online price indexes and official statistics. First, we generate online CPI component sub-indexes, which are later aggregated to an Online Price CPI. This approach is applied to our unique dataset which contains about 3 million observations of online retail prices for consumer goods in Ukraine’s five largest cities. The data span over the period 2016m1 – 2017m12 and cover about 46% of Ukraine’s Consumer Price Inflation basket. We find that online inflation is generally consistent with official estimates, but the matching capability varies across sub-indexes. Although the differences can partially be explained by poor dataset coverage, we find that online prices may indeed represent new information that is not captured by official statistics.

Long-term comparison of climatological variables used for agricultural land appraisement

Official price of farmland in the Czech Republic is based on land value in different soil and climatic conditions. The paper compares relevant climatic and agroclimatic characteristics used for land appraisement. Characteristics defined in climatic region of estimated pedological ecological unit system for two fifty years period 1901-1950 and 1961-2010 were evaluated. Area of interest includes 53 points distributed within nine broad areas of the Czech Republic. It is evident that the development of climate has an enormous impact on soil fertility. Difference of station average values of air temperature of both fifty years vary from −0.5 to 1.1 ◦ C (mean difference is 0.3 ◦ C) in the case of vegetation period. The shift of precipitation is not so evident as in the case of temperature. The long term change in precipitation distribution within a year is documented by a different shift of annual, vegetation period and non-vegetation period values. Moisture certainty in vegetation period decreases in all cases of broad areas (except one region). All 50year averages of investigated parameters had been changed in 1961-2010 compared to the mean of 1901-1950. This should be taken into account when fixing the official price. Climatic region parameters should be replaced by a more complex “agroclimatological characteristic”, which take into account also the basic pedological and plant characteristics, for example the available water holding capacity.

COSTS OF COURT USAGE IN SEVENTEENTH- AND EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY OTTOMAN ANATOLIA: COURT FEES AS RECORDED IN ESTATE INVENTORIES

This article investigates the costs of court usage in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Ottoman Anatolia, with the help of the data collected from twenty-five court registers of Çankırı and Kastamonu. It utilizes the information available for the fees charged by the two courts for dividing the estates of deceased among their heirs. The findings of this article indicate not only that the courts charged for specific services substantially more than what was dictated in official price compilations, but also that the amounts that they charged increased significantly during the period of 60 years covered in this essay. Cet article examine les coûts de l'utilisation de tribunal dans Anatolie pendant l'epoque ottomane au dix-septième- et dix-huitième siècles. Ceci est accompli avec l'aide d'information trouvée dans vingt-cinq registres des tribunaux de Çankırı et de Kastamonu. L'article utilise l'information disponible au sujet des honoraires chargés par le deux tribunaux pour diviser les propriétés du décédé parmi ses héritiers. Ces resultats indiquent non seulement que les tribunaux ont chargé pour les services beaucoup plus que ce qui a été dicté dans les compilations officielles des prix, mais aussi que les montants qu'ils ont chargées augmenté considérablement pendant la période de 60 ans discuté dans cet essai.